How the Light Gets In

People, including myself,
are often afraid that others
will define us by our trauma,
by what we have survived.
But it has come to me
that we are not defined by what hurt us,
but by how we transform that pain
into love and compassion.

Some survivors become bitter;
others become sweeter and more tender.
For those of us who choose the latter,
we shall find that the deeper the wound,
the deeper and more profound the healing;
"we are all broken,
that's how the light gets in"
as Earnest Hemingway said.
And Kahlil Gibran assures us in The Prophet that
"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,
the more joy you can contain."

And I shall add that it becomes easier
for you to find your joy
after rising out of your sea of sorrow,
for you don't take the small blessings for granted.
This has been my experience.
Seeing glimmering dew drops
clinging to blades of grass
and watching birds flit from here to there
as they serenade the golden dawn
brings joy and ecstasy effortlessly to me.
Silently sitting next to someone I love
is all I need to rest blissfully in the state of euphoria.

We are not judged by our wounding,
but by how well we rebuild ourselves.
We are not defined by our suffering,
but by our choice to transform it
so that we may bless the world
with our souls' transformation.